Lilies
by Bay City Kitty
Summary: ONESHOTEDNESS. Kyo comes down with the flu and is confined to the house. So to keep him amused, Tohru invents a rather unique game for them to play...


_Author's Note:-_ As per usual, complete random oneshotedness. The title is completely random as well, but it does relate to the story... kind of.

_Disclaimer:-_ Don't own. Don't claim to.

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**Lilies.**

It started because he got ill.

Kyo rarely got ill, but the bug had been going around school. Everybody else had had it. Hanajima had been off for a three weeks with it (although that was partly because she was too lazy to come back to school, even when she was better after a week or so), and so it was inescapable that Kyo would get it in the end.

And when he got it, he _really_ got it.

For the first few days, Kyo lay in his bed, completely unable to move. He couldn't eat, and anything he did try to swallow didn't stay down long. Even the pills Hatori gave him to try and counter the flu wouldn't remain in his system.

And he absolutely _refused_ to have an injection.

Not that he was scared of needles. Of course not. He just _really_ didn't want a jab.

Tohru had brought food up for him on the first day, but when she had returned, it was cold and un-touched, and Kyo was still lying in bed, his skin pale and waxy looking. It wasn't nice seeing him like that, and it was especially bad to see the state he was in when, after five days confined to his bed, he finally managed to get up.

He was all hunched over and scruffy looking, and even after a nice hot bah, he still looked as though he'd been dragged through a bush backwards.

He went straight back to bed.

But at least he had started eating again. For a while, Tohru had been scared that he was going to waste away, but once he began eating again, she could feel better.

Not that it made the situation any better, but at least she knew he wasn't going to starve.

But, of course, Tohru had school, and so during the day, she couldn't keep an eye on him. And this was why, on his seventh day away from school, Kyo began to get restless. Had there been someone else at home, he might have been able to settle, perhaps have a game of cards. But he was completely alone, which normally wouldn't have bothered him, but now it just made him irritable twitchy.

It was a Wednesday.

Wednesdays were always the worst. In school, they dragged, but lying immobile in bed, it was torturous. Kyo lay and stared at the ceiling all day, until eventually, at one o' clock, he got up to go to the bathroom. Opening his bedroom door, he found a little parcel tied with a string. Picking it up, he turned it over in his hands, inspecting it thoroughly.

Then he sniffed it.

It smelt deliciously fresh. Like pine needles and clean air and earth. Undoing the string, he found two large pinecones, a smooth grey rock and a handful of petals that scattered around his feet, fluttering through the air as they were released from their confinement.

Kyo smiled and placed the items on his bedside table, then carried on his way to the bathroom.

When Tohru arrived home from school, she ran upstairs to the first floor and went to see if her parcel was still there.

She was disappointed to see that it was still sitting in the exact same place, unopened outside Kyo's door.

Thwarted, she bent over and picked it up, but was quite surprised to find that it was at least twice as heavy as it had been in the morning when she'd left it there. Curious, she sat down on the floor against the wall and undid the string. The wrapping flapped loose, revealing a nest of tissue paper and a little card box. Frowning, she opened the box, only to take another, smaller one out.

Opening this one, she was surprised and also slightly annoyed to find yet another box. It was quite heavy, and as she opened it, there was a soft thumping sound.

Pulling back the lid, Tohru gazed at the contents of the final box. It was quite possibly the most enormous peach she had ever seen. Its flush, velvety skin soft to the touch. It smelled absolutely heavenly, and Tohru couldn't help but take a bite.

Her eyes closed in pleasure as her teeth pierced the flesh and sweet, warm juice burst into her mouth. Taking as big a bite as she possibly could, Tohru savoured the amorous flavour, delighting in the feeling of the juice in her throat. Wiping her chin with the cuff of her sleeve, she stood up, gathering the various wrappings, and went to her room to finish her peach before starting on dinner.

Kyo woke up earlier than normal on Thursday, feeling quite fresh. The feeling lasted until he sat up, then the world went fuzzy and he had to lie down again. Sighing, he reached out for his clock, but his hand instead found the pinecone. Smiling, he picked it up and lifted it to his face, smelling the fresh scent.

It just made him want to get up and run around.

Although that was pretty impossible in his current state.

Instead, he got up and dressed himself, then went down stairs to make himself breakfast. When he got down there, a meal of rice balls and fruit had been left out for him. He ate it ravenously then took his plates to the kitchen to wash them. As he passed the fridge, he frowned. There was a note on the door with his name on it.

Removing it, he turned the piece of paper over and stared at it.

"_Go to the Study.__"_

The study..? Why the hell would he go to the study?

Sighing, he turned and walked back through the house, still holding the piece of paper. When he reached the study, he found another note stuck to the door.

"_Turn to your left.__"_

Kyo did as he was told and found himself staring at the blinds in front of the window. He was pretty sure that this particular window looked out onto the back garden and the woods, and although it was a pretty view, especially when under snow as it was now, it wasn't really anything special.

And yet again, there was another piece of paper stuck to the blind.

"_Look out of the window!"_

Kyo sighed and rolled the blind up, staring out of the window at the bright, white world.

He started to laugh.

In the middle of the lawn, in an area where the snow had levelled out nicely, there were three big snow angels, next to each other so that they looked as though they were holding hands. Kyo ran a hand back through his hair and smiled.

Had she _seriously_ lay down in the snow?

Turning and walking back down the corridor, Kyo picked up the cordless phone as he walked past and dialled. He stood in front of the window, staring down the front path as the phone rang. Eventually, she answered.

"_Moshi-moshi_?"

"Suzu? It's Kyo," he paused and looked out of the window, smiling as the idea formed in his mind. "I need to ask you another favour."

That afternoon, Haru and Momiji walked home with her. Normally, the two Sohmas didn't come over to Shigure's house after school, but today Yuki was staying late for a school council meeting, and had asked them to walk Tohru home.

Not that they needed much persuasion.

It was freezing cold outside, their breath visible before their eyes as they walked through the frosty white landscape, snow crunching beneath their feet.

"Ah! It's so pretty, isn't it?" Tohru said as she walked in between the two boys, her warm winter coat pulled right up to her chin.

"Yeah, I s'pose," Haru replied.

"It's a good job your coat dried in time to walk home," Momiji said brightly. Tohru smiled at him and nodded.

"Which reminds me," Haru said. "What happened to you this morning?"

"Oh…" Tohru blushed. "I fell."

"Yeah, and then rolled around for a bit? You were covered," Haru said. Tohru laughed sheepishly.

"I uh… had a bit of trouble getting up again."

"Obviously," Haru replied dryly. Suddenly, Momiji stopped and Tohru nearly walked into him.

"What's up?" Haru asked, looking down at his smaller cousin. Momiji pointed.

"Whats that?" He asked, curiously. Tohru and Haru turned to look in the same direction as Momiji. At first, she couldn't see anything. Then, as she looked through the trees, she saw a shimmer of something orange. Tohru squinted to see.

"_Sugoi…_" she gasped. Wrapped around a small sapling no taller than herself, was a beautiful, bright orange ribbon, the colour of a sunset.

"Another one, Tohru-kun! Look!"

Sure enough, further ahead, another, slightly larger tree was also adorned with an orange ribbon. Tohru began to trot towards it, but she spotted another tree further ahead, and another, and another…

In fact, every fourth tree had a ribbon tied around its trunk.

Tohru began to run through the snow, kicking up showers of icy powder, laughing and smiling. Every tree she passed with a ribbon, she touched, until finally, she reached the house, where two final ribbons were wrapped around the gate posts.

Stopping, she touched the ribbon on the left hand post. She smiled and looked up at the house, and for a moment, she was convinced that she could see him watching her. Then she blinked and he was gone and a moment later, Haru and Momiji came jogging round the corner to catch her up.

That evening, Kyo came downstairs for supper. He sat and ate in silence, occasionally looking up at her from his plate. Every time they caught each other's eye, they would smile at one another, then look away again.

Shigure noted this with interest.

Yuki didn't notice.

Tohru spent much of the evening trying to figure out what her next surprise should be. Unfortunately, she could think of nothing else that Kyo might like or find amusing. The snow angel really had stretched her, and she had only figured it out just as she was about to leave for school.

This was proving to be quite difficult.

Over the following days, Tohru was busy with work and school, and by the following Monday, Kyo was deemed fit enough to go back to school himself.

If he was perfectly honest with himself, he'd missed the crowdedness and the business of the day when it was just him alone at home.

He was sad to have to stop playing their little game, though.

Over the week, Kyo waited to see if Tohru would leave a surprise for him somewhere, but as the week wore on, it became increasingly obvious that she wasn't going to continue the game. Kyo was quite disappointed about it.

He'd enjoyed it quite a lot.

Of course, just because _she _wasn't going to play, didn't mean _he_ couldn't carry on anyway…

Tohru finished work quite late on Wednesday. It was her own fault really. She' been in a bit of a funk because it was a whole week since the game had begun, and five days since Kyo had left her the ribbons and she _still_ hadn't thought of a comeback to keep the game rolling.

Maybe she should just leave it…

By the time she finally got out of the building, Yuki had been waiting for quite some time. She apologised profusely for her tardiness, then thanked Yuki a hundred times for once again coming to pick her up.

As they walked home, they didn't talk much. Yuki seemed a bit far away and Tohru didn't really feel much in the mood for conversation.

When they got in, Tohru headed up to her room. She passed Shigure on the stairs, who blinked in surprise, then smiled and continued on his way.

That was a bit odd.

Mind you, Shigure could be quite the enigma sometimes.

Tohru reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hall, but as she did, she stopped and looked down in surprise. Underneath her foot, there was a large orange petal. Tohru lifted her foot slowly and studied the petal, before noticing that there was an entire trail of them all the way from the top of the stairs, down the hall to… her room?

Tohru wandered down the hall to her room and opened the door.

"Oh!" She gasped in delight. On her bedside table, in a large glass vase that was normally in the living room, was the most beautiful bunch of lilies she had ever seen. The petals started a burnt dusky colour near the stem, slowly lightening to vibrant orange at the tips. There was a small piece of card slipped between two stems, and Tohru took it out and stared at the message on the back.

"_I win."_

The floorboard near her door creaked, and Tohru turned to see Kyo leaning in the doorway, a triumphant grin on his face. She placed the card back between the two flowers and placed her bag on the bed.

Then, catching him completely off guard, she turned and threw her arms around him.

**Fin.**

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Well? Review, por favor. And by the way, did you notice that everything Kyo got her was orange..? . 


End file.
